Former President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was put on trial on charges including obstructing the execution of an arrest warrant by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, again denied the charges in his final statement on appeal. The special counsel investigating insurrection sought a 10-year prison term again in the second trial, and the court said it will hand down a verdict on the 29th.
The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (High Court Judges Yoon Sung-sik, Min Sung-cheol, and Lee Dong-hyun) on the 6th held the closing hearing in former President Yoon's case on charges including obstruction of special official duties and concluded arguments. Former President Yoon gave a final statement for about 20 minutes that day.
In his final statement, former President Yoon said, "I did not think I was obstructing an arrest." He added, "Because it is a military facility and a restricted area, I have never entered it," arguing that he did not block the CIO from executing the warrant but responded in line with security protocol. "Even if there is a political attempt to put a noose around me, I wonder whether indicting me and putting me on trial like this makes sense," he said, adding, "It's not as if I took a large sum in political funds; isn't this far against common sense?"
The defense also contested the charges across the board. Attorney Yu Jeong-hwa for former President Yoon argued that a Cabinet member's deliberation authority is merely an official's "power," not a "right" protected by the offense of abuse of authority interfering with the exercise of rights. The defense also reiterated its position that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) cannot be recognized as having jurisdiction to investigate insurrection.
By contrast, the special counsel for insurrection argued that Yoon should be held more severely accountable than in the lower court. The special counsel sought a 10-year prison term, saying, "He used the office of the president and mobilized state resources to destroy the constitutional order and privatize public power, which makes the crime particularly egregious." The special counsel also asked the court to find Yoon guilty of counts the first trial acquitted him of, including infringing some Cabinet members' deliberation authority, uttering a forged official document related to the post-facto martial law proclamation statement, and charges related to false public communications.
Former President Yoon was indicted on charges including deploying Presidential Security Service staff to block the CIO's execution of an arrest warrant and convening only some Cabinet members just before declaring emergency martial law, thereby infringing the deliberation authority of the remaining Cabinet members. In the first trial, the court found him guilty of key charges, including obstructing the execution of the arrest warrant, and sentenced him to five years in prison.